Even while some two hundred people are protesting the issuance of Aadhaar there are long queues in areas where this document is now being applied for. Several Dorbar Shnong are in the process of enrolling their residents for Aadhaar because they feel a sense of responsibility since the card is now to be linked with bank accounts and even with mobile phone companies. Since subsidies for the poor go directly to their bank accounts it would be disastrous if the banks refuse to credit that subsidy since the account is not Aadhaar compliant. While the idea of safeguarding one’s privacy is paramount what happens if one’s bank account is frozen because it is not linked to the Aadhaar. Many who had opened bank accounts during that first phase of the Jan Dhan Yojna with minimum documents are now told to do a ‘Know Your Customer (KYC)’ compliance. Those without an EPIC or an Aadhaar card can no longer operate their accounts. This has left several millions of accounts dormant in the banks. How do customers get back their money and close their accounts? If they have to do so then was the opening of the account of any advantage to the poor and illiterate?
We are now in a state of confusion since the apex court has not given its final ruling on whether or not the Aadhaar is a compulsory document. Outside Meghalaya it is futile to argue and challenge the hotel receptionist and smugly say, “I don’t believe in an Aadhaar Card.” One can resist an Aadhaar only as long as one is not getting into digital transactions or if one is living only in one’s state of domicile. This is a conundrum. It is fine for the Chief Minister of Meghalaya to say he does not own an Aadhaar. His movement is overlaid by security forces and he has enough documents to prove his identity. But what happens to the ordinary citizen? To oppose Aadhaar merely because it is rolled out by the BJP is to reduce the issue to partisan politics. Meanwhile the central government has extended the date for linking Aadhaar to bank accounts up to March 31, 2018. For now it’s a case of, “To each his own,” and ‘Wait and Watch.’